On Thanksgiving Day, of course, people throughout the United State traditionally eat turkeys. The day before Easter this year, people in Tennessee can start shooting them.
The state's spring hunting season for wild turkeys begins a half-hour before sunrise Saturday and continues through May 17. Alabama's and Georgia's seasons began already, concluding on April 30 and May 15, respectively.
The turkey populations in all three states are very healthy, In Tennessee, for instance, the spring harvest of 32,495 last year was just over 10 percent of the estimated total of the birds in the state.
There's also a fall season recognized in some counties.
"I don't think anything will change dramatically this season in terms of harvest numbers," Roger Applegate, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's turkey program coordinator, said in a TWRA website posting. "By and large, all things point to a stable population."
A licensed hunter can kill one bearded turkey per day and no more than four in a season, although any killed on quota hunts and on specially designated wildlife management areas are "bonus turkeys," according to the TWRA.
Applegate has hunted for years, and although his job doesn't allow him to do so as much as he would like, he prefers turkey hunting to deer hunting. The challenge is much greater, for one thing, he told the Times Free Press on Wednesday.
"I think getting a turkey is a lot harder," he said. "For one thing, the style of hunting is a lot different. You have to be at least reasonable at calling (turkeys), and you often have other hunters nearby.
"Also, you have to understand the distribution of turkeys. Deer are more widely dispersed over the landscape. And you have to be a lot more cautious about movements."
A wild turkey is indeed a "wily bird," Applegate acknowledged, and in the spring those crafty creatures often are "less vocal" and more reluctant about answering calls than at other times,
So the challenge is part of the allure of turkey hunting. But so is this particular season. Like other outdoors lovers, hunters can't wait to be active outside after a chilling winter, and turkey season is a wonderful excuse.
"Breaking spring fever is part of it," said Applegate, admitting that he's like many in spending a lot of his "hunting" time taking photographs of wildflowers or otherwise just enjoying being in the revitalized woods and fields in April and May.
He would like to be out hunting turkeys Saturday, "but I'll be at a check station somewhere," he said. "I don't even know where yet.
"We all have multiple duties and just don't have the time to get out there like we would like to," Applegate said, "but turkey season is a great time of year."
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.